Of Cold Hands and Warm Hearts
by toumeiillusion
Summary: There's nothing different about the winter breaks they spend together. They've always been filled with snowball fights and dragon roasted marshmallows, courtesy of the little green "Toothless Daydream". Neither of them think that should change just because they've gotten older. If it does, who knows. Maybe it'll be better that way. [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm]
1. Chapter 1

_There has always been something soft_

_Something comforting_

_About the snowfall_

_Pure and new_

_And cold_

_So very cold_

Every part of her was cold, save her hands that tightly held the styrofoam cup of hot chocolate, yet Aisling didn't mind as much as she should have. Exams were over and she was free until January rolled in and spread out the new semester of classes. Three weeks of sitting at home stringing popcorn and watching Christmas specials on every channel she could think of. It sounded like bliss after the long nights of studying, speaking practice, and cramming what seemed like one thousand words onto a single notecard. "_Well deserved"_, she thought as she sipped carefully at the drink_, "considering how hard I've been working this year."_

She started forward and onward, feeling a bit better with the warmth spreading through her. Still too early to be out and about, there wasn't any reason to waste time in getting home. She had a plan and she was going to follow it through the moment her feet hit the hardwood floors of her mother's house. Change into pajamas, dig out her room decorations, and nestle into bed for a nap. Nothing could be more perfect than a few more hours of sleep. When she woke from the light sleep, she would go back out and sit in the backyard with a sketchbook and a bag of art supplies. There wasn't anything specific she wanted to draw but it was a nice time sink.

"_Maybe, if it comes out well, I'll put it on my wall. It would be just in time to show it off if he comes down this year." _She paused at a crosswalk and let a car go by. A perplexed look crossed her face for a moment. _"Where did that come from? He and his family come down for Christmas break every year. There's no if about it." _Aisling gave herself a reassuring nod and continued on. There was no reason to think on it more than she needed to, not now at least. She was sure that if they weren't coming for Christmas he would have sent a letter or an e-mail or at least a text. He might have even called if he felt bad enough about it.

Her feet led her to the walk to her porch and up the steps. Aisling fumbled with her key and huffed as she finally opened the door. The cold always made her fingers stiff and it didn't help that she wasn't wearing her gloves. Without the cup in her hand, it was like she'd frozen her hand. The door closed behind her with a click and she was glad to be inside. It was warm, at least warmer than outside, like her mother had just put out a fire before she left. Shedding her coat and boots, Aisling moved further in the house and checked the thermostat. She couldn't have been wrong, since it was on fifty instead of the usual sixty five, and that made her feel like she'd timed getting home perfectly. With a triumphant grin, Aisling made her way to the kitchen and tossed her now empty cup into the trash can. She checked for a note on the fridge, finding none, then went to her room

The plain blue walls were as welcome a sight as the fluffy holiday themed pajamas neatly folded on her bed. She slipped into them, finding them still warm from the dryer, and put on her slippers. The basement was going to be chilly but that didn't mean she couldn't make it a little less so. She tied her hair back while she walked to the stairs and descended into the stone room.

It still smelled like laundry and it was an inviting smell. There had always been something about the scent of clean clothes that made Aisling feel comfortable and at home. She drew it in with a deep breath and moved forward to the door to the right of the washer. It was always sticking when she tried to open it so, without thinking about how to open it, she shoved her weight against it in a shove and stumbled into the back room. She was glad no one had been around to see it and picked her way through the boxes. They were all things she and her mother used to decorate or needed stored, like baby pictures and old vases they'd never gotten around to selling or using, and they were very well organized.

"_Of course, mother does need everything organized or she'll have a cow._" She smiled at the mental imagery as she pulled a box into her arms and began to head back, inching the door closed behind her with her foot. The smiled stayed as she made her way up the stairs and into her room.

Aisling dropped the box on her bed and hummed to herself as she opened it. Bows, garland, and plastic ornaments revealed themselves to her in all their colorful glory. It didn't take long to get the garland on her walls and the bows tied onto sections of it. It was decidedly pleasing but missing something. Aisling tapped her chin in thought. The ornaments weren't up, yes, but she was going to wait for that. She wanted help this year and she was going to push her dear friend into it if she had to.

A soft set of chords, the text tone for her phone, broke her thoughts and forced her to leave the issue for later. She scooped up the phone on her nightstand and moved to check the text. She could only think of two people who would be trying to get a hold of her at this time. One was her mother, though she doubted the possibility since she had to be at work by now. They never talked when she was working as a basic rule. So it had to be the other one. A glance at the sender of the text confirmed her suspicions and made her smile widely.

**[It's really cold out here. Can you come get the door?]**

**[Depends.]**

Despite her reply, she'd already started moving towards the front door. She paused just long enough to hear the slightly distressed sounds of a small animal and the very subtle sound of a boy telling it to calm down in equally distressed tones. She giggled inwardly and pulled open the door between them.

"You're early, Hiccup."


	2. Chapter 2

_Some things come in small packages_

_Some things come in large_

_And then_

_Some things don't come in packages_

_They come in conversation_

Even though it had been about a year, Hiccup looked like he did last Christmas. He was still small and awkward looking with freckles all over his face and hands. She had always figured that he was covered in them from head to toe even though she never had any actual proof. Part of her had wanted to ask a few times but she always got distracted, usually by the equally small mass of green scales curled up on Hiccup's head. The said mass of scales was his dragon, Toothless, and was, in her opinion, the second cutest living creature she had ever seen.

"Is that a bad thing?" Aisling shook her head and stepped aside, waving into the house.

"No, it really isn't. I mean, I can't take a nap now but… Well, I can watch you struggle with Toothless so it's a fair exchange." The little green dragon flew in as she spoke and went straight for the living room. Hiccup shook his coat off and tried to pull off his boots at the same time while Aisling closed the door.

"Besides," she continued as he hung the coat on a peg, "when have I ever disliked you being early? The more time together, the better, right?" He gave her a crooked smile and that was all the confirmation she needed. Wrapping her hand around his wrist, she started to drag him into the living room.

Toothless had curled himself up on the couch in a nest of blankets and made a little bit of a mess in doing so. _"At the very least, he didn't destroy the couch this time."_ Aisling sat carefully on the opposite end of the couch and patted the seat next to her. Hiccup took the seat and leaned back with a content sigh.

"Have I ever mentioned that your house is the warmest place I've ever been?"

"Maybe once or twice after snowball fights." She brought her legs up and tucked them beneath herself so she could turn to see her friend better. Even more than the warmth, he seemed to be enjoying the lack of a disgruntled dragon on his head.

"Have you gotten your own dragon yet?" Hiccup asked slowly. Aisling bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. It was Toothless that always made her reconsider getting her own dragon. Unlike Hiccup, she didn't need one to become an adult and if they were so troublesome, which most of them seemed to be, she didn't see a need to bother. Maybe if he could tell her about one that didn't give their owner a million plus problems she would.

Hiccup frowned. It surprised her a little. He didn't usually get upset by the topic of dragons, even if it was her reluctance to get one. She could see him formulating some sort of plan to either get her on one or to get her using one without forcing her to get her own. Aisling shifted to the side and looked away.

"I just… Don't think I can handle a dragon, Hiccup. A baby one or otherwise. I'm not as brave as you and I can't speak a lick of dragonese. I'd have to yell at it." They both let out a short laugh. Neither of them were very good at yelling. Hiccup could barely start to and Aisling could only manage to be as scary as she needed to be when she was angry, which didn't happen very often.

"If Fishlegs and I can handle dragons, you should be able to. Sure, dragonese helps but you don't _need_ to know it right now."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you'd teach me or that dragons are slowly adapting to speak in human tongues because I swear, if you're telling me the latter, I will cry."

"What? No! That would be terrifying. They're scary enough. I mean I'll teach you." Aisling mulled this over in her head. Dragonese speakers weren't common, especially where Hiccup was from, so she was sure she could just learn it like it was Spanish or French but trying couldn't hurt. On the other hand, it was still a dragon. A beast of scales and fire with its own mind. It wasn't like a cat, which also had a mind of its own but wouldn't kill you unless you were playing a tabletop as a commoner.

She felt something curl up in her lap and jumped. Toothless had left his messy blanket nest and landed on her. He looked up at her with his pretty, almost human eyes. Like when she'd first seen the dragon with Hiccup, she was overcome with how small and beautiful he was. When Toothless gave her one of his mischievous smiles, Aisling found herself giving in.

Her hand ran over Toothless's head and lightly scratched behind his ear, humming. He made an appreciative sound and nuzzled into her leg. She let out a sigh and looked over at Hiccup. "You win," she started with a small smile. "I'll get a dragon. But only if you help me with it."

Hiccup grinned triumphantly like he'd just gotten the upper hand in some huge fight. Aisling found herself unable to look at him and turned her attention back to Toothless. He'd fallen asleep on her and looked happy to stay that way.

"_What have you gotten yourself into, Aisling?"_


	3. Chapter 3

_Confidence_

_Isn't really inherent_

_Sometimes it just_

_Happens_

_When you look at something_

"When I agreed to this, I didn't think we'd be going as soon as our parents got in," she whispered to Hiccup. To say that Aisling was uncomfortable in the car would have been an understatement. It hadn't been more than two hours, two hours in which Hiccup poured endless amounts of information on dragons into her head, before all three parents walked through the door with boisterous laughter. Of course, Hiccup hadn't wasted any time in telling them that Aisling wanted to get a dragon. She had expected her mother to be confused but she seemed to accept the news readily, enough so that Aisling wondered if she wanted one of her own.

What really set her on edge was the look she got from both Stoick and Valhallarama. She usually felt squirmy under their gaze given that they were both very impressive figures in her life but the close examining looks from them were a little less than terrifying. It had made her want to hide behind Hiccup and now, in the car, it felt even worse.

"The sooner the better, Aisling. You know as well as I do we only have three weeks to get you ready and the dragon used to you," he whispered back. She leaned back and groaned quietly. She hated when he was right. He patted her hand. It should have been comforting but it only made her want to sink into the car's upholstery and hide until she couldn't feel either of his parents' gaze. When the car came to a stop in front of the only nearby dragon ground, she practically jumped out of the confined space. _"The sooner I pick one, the sooner we can go back to the house and get away from his parents,"_ she thought while rushing inside.

It was a lot warmer in the confined grounds than it was outside of them. Even a dragon novice like Aisling knew why though. Dragon eggs needed to be kept warm or they would die. Some species even laid their eggs in fire to keep them from the possibility of an icy death. Of course, there were also infant dragons, which was what she was going to be looking at, but she wasn't sure they needed to be as warm. Toothless was still a baby and he seemed at least somewhat adjusted. He didn't like being cold but it wouldn't kill him.

She stopped in front of the Common or Garden dragons and considered this. They were the same species as Toothless so she would already know how to handle them. They probably wouldn't be as pretty but she could live with that. It was the stubbornness she wasn't sure she could deal with. Taking that into consideration, she moved on.

Species after species of dragon passed before she realized, with embarrassment, that she was being a little too picky about her dragon. They were always either too stubborn or too messy or, in the case of the Gronkle, too bulky. _"It's a dragon, for God's sake, it's not going to be perfect. Just pick one and move on with it,"_ she scolded, stooping down to look at the little dragon in front of her.

The dragon looked up at her, its honey eyes examining her as if to decide if it should set her on fire or nip at her fingers. Light shimmered across its silver scales, making it seem shinier than it was, and Aisling found it hard to look away. She reached out gingerly to touch the back of the dragon. It flicked its tongue at her but it didn't bit and she took it as a sign. Her fingers brushed over its scales and she smiled.

"Aren't you a beautiful little dragon?" she muttered. It gave a purr in response and slowly closed its eyes, letting her see each set of eyelids fall over the other.

Aisling shot a look over her shoulder and called for Hiccup. "I think I found one."

"A Silver Phantom?" Hiccup turned his head to the side. "Are you absolutely sure? They get fairly large when they're older. Of course, you could also ride it when it grows up but that's… Assuming you can train it."

"Have a little faith." She turned back to the dragon and retracted her hand. It was already about as big as a medium-sized dog, which wasn't much of a surprise. She was sure they could make a little dragon house outside when it got bigger and she could find time to fly it daily and play with it. The idea of flying made her smile. She'd always wondered how it felt and now, with the opportunity literally sitting in front of her, she could pass the chance up. "I can train it."


End file.
